David Byrne....Music and the Brain

[simmerdown]

Smithsonian Mag, full article

http://www.smithsonianmag.com/arts-cult ... 60476.html

lots about the importance of silence...which i can relate to...

...when I’m writing and recording music, I listen to what I’m working on. But that’s it.

I find music somewhat intrusive in restaurants or bars. Maybe due to my involvement with it, I feel I have to either listen intently or tune it out. Mostly I tune it out; I often don’t even notice if a Talking Heads song is playing in most public places. Sadly, most music then becomes (for me) an annoying sonic layer that just adds to the background noise.

[SnoopWess]

"...when I’m writing and recording music, I listen to what I’m working on. But that’s it.

I find music somewhat intrusive in restaurants or bars. Maybe due to my involvement with it, I feel I have to either listen intently or tune it out. Mostly I tune it out; I often don’t even notice if a Talking Heads song is playing in most public places. Sadly, most music then becomes (for me) an annoying sonic layer that just adds to the background noise."

I write music because I LOVE the music.... I feel bad for this guy.

[simmerdown]

that was a purposefully controvercial extract from text, reading the whole article is key to getting what he fully means...i wouldn't feel bad for him though!, dude has made his mark in the world

[slatepipe]

cheers for this, i'll read it later. david byrne is one of my total heroes. erudite and intelligent, and has come up with some of my favourite music of the last 20 years. it's highly unlikely, but if talking heads ever reformed i would freak out

[Bagatell]

i wouldn't feel bad for him though!, dude has made his mark in the world

Indeed. His last book "How Music Works" is an interesting read.

[minkay]

So glad to see a topic on this...

Really inspirational book from a really inspirational guy.

His first album with Brian Eno "My Life in the Bush of Ghosts" is one of the best out there.

Cheers bro!

[simmerdown]

ahh, didnt know he had a book out (just ordered it) ...possible this article was an extract, although it does not say in the byline...great!

[synnack]

I bought this book in the Kindle app on my iPad but I haven't started reading it yet. Also my suits are not nearly big enough.

[steko]

Thanks simmer!

http://blip.tv/Seed-Magazine/seed-salon ... tin-220358

http://www.openculture.com/2012/09/davi ... vitin.html

[simmerdown]

that Seed vid is excellent, Levitin is another powerhouse in this field, probably the authority and musical neuroscience

"This is your Brain on Music" - Levitin... should be required reading for anyone into this kind of stuff....probably old news for many, but im sure many have not read

also his "The World in Six Songs" is superb, history of music in humanity as a whole, the argument that without music the human mind would not have evolved as it has

[steko]

Don't forget my beloved Oliver Sacks!